UK freezes Hamas leaders' cash

2004-03-24 20:14

London - Britain's treasury chief on Wednesday ordered the Bank of England to freeze any assets of five senior Hamas members, including Abdel Aziz Rantissi, the group's new leader in Gaza.

Gordon Brown, the chancellor of the exchequer, said the government had reasonable grounds to suspect that Rantissi and four others - Musa Abu Marzouk, Imad Khalil Al-Alami, Usama Hamdan and Khalid Mishaal - may be involved in terrorism.

Rantissi said on Wednesday that the group had no intention of attacking US interests and said its militant activities were aimed solely at Israel, which it has pledged to destroy and replace with an Islamic state.

- AP